The Stat Lab

Our bench. It may look weaker than it really is because we've had so many starters missing (and thus bench players promoted to the starting lineup... and thus players like Bynum, Herrmann, and Brown getting major bench minutes at times), but I want to point out a few things.

San Antonio's bench players get 98 minutes per game and that leads the league.

Detroit's bench players get 74.8. There are only 4 teams that play their bench less (ORL, LAC, ATL, NYK).

However, the surprising thing is that our bench leads the entire NBA in terms of points scored per 100 possessions at 110.7 points.

Notice that we have 5 players who can't even average a full regulation NBA game without fouling out. The bottom 4 are comprised of all of our big men except for Sheed.

This highlights how clean our top 4 play. Tay's infrequent fouling is pretty amazing when you think about it. Sheed's too.

It may also highlight how much presure is being put on our bigs as the last line of defense.

I'm not going to draw any conclusions from Afflalo's number because he is routinely put on the best players and is often inserted for defensive possessions only, which will really skew his foul frequency upward.

Took a look at our players and compared them to what they did last year. I'll only point out the material differences. [Shooting % shown as eFG (mixing 3's and 2's), rebounding shown as % of available, assists shown as assists per 48, FTA's also per 48.]

Stuckey- has improved his shooting % a lot from .406 to .488. His shot selection is identical, but his jump shot % is up over 100 basis points from .345 to .451. His inside FG% is also up a ton, from .477 to .533. Surprisingly, the rate at which he gets fouled is actually down by about 2% and 1 FTA per game. His assists are up slightly. This change in outside shooting % is likely responsible for his improved inside %, as defenders can't sag off him any more. Great development.

Iverson- totally different situation for him and apples to oranges comparison, but his FG% is down from .488 to .442. His FTA's are down from 11.2 to 7.3. His assists are down. He's both sacrificing time with the ball in his hands and he's worse from an efficiency standpoint too. He's still good obviously, but he has high standards. Maybe this is good news, because there is still upside possible from him going forward.

Rip- FG% down from .515 to .482. FTA's up. Assists down. Shooting slump at the beginning of the season still holding his averages down. But even though he's not knocking them down like we're used to seeing, he's still more efficient than AI from the perimeter.

AA- Like Stuck, another huge FG% improvement, from .432 to .512. He's taking a higher % of jump shots this year, but hitting them at .474 vs. .390 last year. When he gets inside, he's shooting .643 vs. .487 last year. Same situation as Stuck? His outside shooting is opening up his drives? His foul drawing is about half of what it was last year and his assists are down too. But for a defensive player, this is spectacular that he could improve his offensive efficiency so much.

Tay- Everything is about the same. Minor variations, but nothing substantial and they vary both ways. Assists are down 16%, probably a result of playing with drivers like Stuck and AI and not getting those easy assists where he'd throw it to CB or Rip for an immediate J.

Sheed- Shooting is about the same. He's increased his outside shot selection from 85% to 89%. Foul drawing is down about 33%. Assists are down, but in line with the team in general. Not much else has changed, still a poor offensive rebounder and a stong defensive rebounder.

Dyess- Shooting has improved from .488 to .517. The difference is that he's hitting his jumpers at a .448 clip vs. only .409 last year. Dyess is drawing fouls at a slightly greater rate than last year and his assists are actually higher than last year. Overall, more than we could have hoped for from an aging big man.

Amir- FG% higher from .558 to .586. Can't really get any higher than this, because he's being so selective. He's rebounding at the same rates as last year. His foul drawing rate has actually dropped significantly, probably because he's playing with and against starters. Fouling giving rate is unsustainable if he wants to maintain his position in the rotation.

Maxiell- Decrease in FG% from .538 to .516, but still very good. He's rebounding on the offensive end a little better, but 20% worse on the defensive boards. He's drawing fouls at a lower rate than he used to, but is getting more attempts, so more FTA/48, from 4.6 to 5.2.

Took a look at our players and compared them to what they did last year. I'll only point out the material differences. [Shooting % shown as eFG (mixing 3's and 2's), rebounding shown as % of available, assists shown as assists per 48, FTA's also per 48.]

Stuckey- has improved his shooting % a lot from .406 to .488. His shot selection is identical, but his jump shot % is up over 100 basis points from .345 to .451. His inside FG% is also up a ton, from .477 to .533. Surprisingly, the rate at which he gets fouled is actually down by about 2% and 1 FTA per game. His assists are up slightly. This change in outside shooting % is likely responsible for his improved inside %, as defenders can't sag off him any more. Great development.

Iverson- totally different situation for him and apples to oranges comparison, but his FG% is down from .488 to .442. His FTA's are down from 11.2 to 7.3. His assists are down. He's both sacrificing time with the ball in his hands and he's worse from an efficiency standpoint too. He's still good obviously, but he has high standards. Maybe this is good news, because there is still upside possible from him going forward.I don't think we want to depend on AI that much. We want a well rounded team that demands even handed defensing. We want AI hot in the 4th Q to steal close games. Because we've seen how AI's teams fade early in the P/Os.

Rip- FG% down from .515 to .482. FTA's up. Assists down. Shooting slump at the beginning of the season still holding his averages down. But even though he's not knocking them down like we're used to seeing, he's still more efficient than AI from the perimeter.

AA- Like Stuck, another huge FG% improvement, from .432 to .512. He's taking a higher % of jump shots this year, but hitting them at .474 vs. .390 last year. When he gets inside, he's shooting .643 vs. .487 last year. Same situation as Stuck? His outside shooting is opening up his drives? His foul drawing is about half of what it was last year and his assists are down too. But for a defensive player, this is spectacular that he could improve his offensive efficiency so much.

Tay- Everything is about the same. Minor variations, but nothing substantial and they vary both ways. Assists are down 16%, probably a result of playing with drivers like Stuck and AI and not getting those easy assists where he'd throw it to CB or Rip for an immediate J. I hope you see a much more steady Tay. One that gets to the paint as much as he lofts 3s. While still maintaining strong D on SFs and PFs.

Sheed- Shooting is about the same. He's increased his outside shot selection from 85% to 89%. Foul drawing is down about 33%. Assists are down, but in line with the team in general. Not much else has changed, still a poor offensive rebounder and a stong defensive rebounder.

Dyess- Shooting has improved from .488 to .517. The difference is that he's hitting his jumpers at a .448 clip vs. only .409 last year. Dyess is drawing fouls at a slightly greater rate than last year and his assists are actually higher than last year. Overall, more than we could have hoped for from an aging big man.Good to see him rejuvenated.

Amir- FG% higher from .558 to .586. Can't really get any higher than this, because he's being so selective. He's rebounding at the same rates as last year. His foul drawing rate has actually dropped significantly, probably because he's playing with and against starters. Fouling giving rate is unsustainable if he wants to maintain his position in the rotation.How dare you say that last sentence. He may be the last of the true Detroit Basketballers. Only 5 years late or so. The league needs to adjust to him.

Maxiell- Decrease in FG% from .538 to .516, but still very good. He's rebounding on the offensive end a little better, but 20% worse on the defensive boards. He's drawing fouls at a lower rate than he used to, but is getting more attempts, so more FTA/48, from 4.6 to 5.2.